Market Stats

IDC reports W. European Q1 2015 tablet shipments are down by -10.5% Y-o-Y to reach 8.5 million units-- a contraction caused mainly by sluggish consumer demand, as the market sees a growth opportunity in the enterprise segment.

One has to note IDC counts both regular tablets and hybrid/2-in-1 devices within its generic "tablets" statistics.

In fact, according to the analyst enterprise shipments are up by 51.3% Y-o-Y. Another opportunity spanning both enterprise and consumer markets comes in the shape of hybrid devices, with shipments growing by 44.4% Y-o-Y even as the category holds just 5.9% Q1 2015 market share.

According to IHS smartwatch shipments are set to grow from 3.6 million units in 2014 to 101m units in 2020-- but only if the Apple Watch manages to drive consumer awareness (and sales) in the product category.

The analyst predicts 2015 Watch shipments will reach 19m units, or 56% of total smartwatch shipments for the year. However Watch share should drop to 38% by 2020, since more vendors will refine their wearable product offering to "successfully serve" the Android market.

“Apple Watch success will drive the overall smartwatch market,” said the analyst says. “The smartwatch will become a key accessory device offered by most leading smartphone manufacturers seeking to dominate this new profitable market. We forecast the ratio of smartwatch shipments to smartphone shipments will increase from 1:500 to 1:20 between 2014 and 2020.”

"The market slowdown that we witnessed last quarter is continuing to impact the tablet segment, but we see some growth areas that are starting to materialize," the analyst says. "Cellular-enabled tablets are outgrowing the rest of the market, providing an additional revenue stream for OEMs and mobile operators. In addition to driving higher usage than wifi-only tablets, cellular-enabled tablets also help position the segment as true mobile solutions rather than stay-at-home devices."

"The challenge made by Apple for the top spot in Q4 2014 returned to a clear lead for Samsung in Q1 2015, despite the soaring global demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus," the analyst says. "Samsung's shipments, given that the S6 was not launched into the market for the full quarter, were driven by large volumes into emerging markets and steady demand for its midrange and lower-priced smartphones."

Intel has a growth opportunity in white-box tablets, DigiTimes Research says-- Chipzilla-powered white-box tablets show "significant" Q4 2014 growth, and should only drop "slightly" (or remain flat) on Q1 2015.

On the other hand similar devices from the likes of MediaTek, Rockchip and Allwinners see "dramatic" Q1 2015 Q-o-Q declines.

As a result DigiTimes forecasts Intel will become the biggest white-box tablet application processor (AP) supplier in H1 2015, with its Bay Trail-T CR processor (not the newly released SoFIA or Core M chipsets) leading such growth.

The analyst attributes the Intel rise among the white-box ranks to 3 factors. First are Microsoft subsidies, since devices smaller than 9-inch receive free Windows licensing while white-box players get non-recurring engineering (NRE) and marketing expenses subsidies for Windows devices since Q4 2014.

Belkin announces an addition to the Mixit DuraTek durable cable line-- a USB-C cable featuring Kevlar-reinforced conductors and double-braided nylon shielding on the outside.
The USB-C cable is certified by both...

Snap-- aka the rebranded Snapchat-- announces the Spectacles, its video-recording sunglasses, are now available in Europe, 7 months after an initial US launch.
For the unfamiliar, the Spectacles are a pair...